Take a tour of the presidential museum in Malacañang via Google

Don’t have time to visit the Presidential Museum and Library (PML) in Malacañang?

No worries. Anyone can now have a virtual tour of the museum through Google Arts and Culture.

The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and PML have partnered with Google to allow the public to virtually walk through the museum.

An online exhibit and virtual tour were launched on July 5 at the Kalayaan Hall in Malacañang, home of the PML.

The two exhibits were entitled “Malacañang as Prize, Pulpit, and Stage” and “Relics of Power: remembering the Philippine Presidents.” The exhibit can be accessed at g.co/pmlmalacanang.

Viewers can now walk through the two floors of the PML and explore the various historical artifacts and presidential memorabilia displayed in the museum.

Google Arts & Culture can be accessed on any desktop or downloaded on a smart phone or tablet from Google Play or App Store. Just search “Malacañang Presidential Museum and Library.”

PML Director Edgar Ryan Faustino said he was “initially very hesitant” with the project.

“I was initially very hesitant to commit to this project. It was my great fear that the public would no longer be interested in visiting us here in the museum since they can already see the most interesting artifacts on their computers or mobile devices,” Faustino said.

But he said he had a “paradigm shift” and was later convinced with the project.

“Despite these considerations, I was convinced that this is indeed a noteworthy undertaking and deserving of support,” he said.

He said people may even be more interested to visit the museum physically after they experienced a virtual tour.

“Instead of thinking that interest in the museum would wane, it may even whet people’s appetites to come here and see the exhibits themselves,” he said.

But for those who don’t have the means to visit the museum personally, he said “the platfrom would serve as an educational tour giving them even just a glimpse of the rich history and profound duties of the Philippine President.”

Pierre Caessa, Google Arts & Culture Program Manager, said a technology similar to Google Street View was used to capture 360-degree views of the PML.

The technology used was called “Museum View,” a push-cart mounted with a camera system dubbed the trolley.

“What it allows is anyone to visit Malacañang Palace from his home, from the streets, from the bus from anywhere you want,” said Caessa.

Kenneth Lingan, country manager of Google Philippines, said the project was also a way to preserve culture and history for generations to come.

“Google’s mission has always been about organizing the world’s information to make it universally useful and accessible. Digitizing artistic and cultural content is an important part of that broader mission,” Lingan said.

“By bringing more of the cultural treasures to the fingertips of the people in the internet and helping the cultural sector share more of its diverse heritage online, we hope not to only play out role in sharing cultural knowledge in new and exciting ways but also to preserve culture and history for the generations to come,” he added.

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the collaboration was a “historic undertaking where our people’s story cab be accessible to the rest of the world through this magnificent technology.”

“We share Philippine heritage and culture on people who are oceans and miles apart,” Andanar said.

“Every person on the planet whether they are in Africa it Antartica, as long as they have the tools, would be able to walk around the Malacañang Presidential Museum and Library. And they would be able to use the collection as if it were the raw and explore the history of the Filipino nation through our digital museum,” he added.

People interested in physically visiting the PML may email [email protected] and [email protected] CBB

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TAGS: Google, Google Arts and Culture, Information Technology, Malacañang, Presidential Communications Operations Office